Even in an era so richly stocked with great names, William Byrd demands particular attention as the most prodigiously talented, prolific, and versatile composer of his generation, and together with his continental colleagues Giovanni Palestrina and Orlando de Lassus, one of the acknowledged great masters of the late Renaissance, due to his substantial volume of high-quality compositions in every genre of the time. Byrd's pre-eminent position at the beginning of music publication in England allowed him to leave a significant printed legacy at the inception of many important musical forms. It would be impossible to overestimate his subsequent influence on the music of England, the Low Countries, and Germany. Byrd was a Roman Catholic, and in addition to the church music that he composed for the Anglican services, he wrote Masses and liturgical music for the Catholic Church. He was also a composer of motets, polyphonic songs, and keyboard and consort music.

Byrd was born about 1540, and it is assumed that he was a chorister in the Chapel Royal (his brothers were choristers at St. Paul's Cathedral) and a student of Thomas Tallis. He certainly was a close friend of Tallis', as they worked closely together, and Byrd's second son was the godson of Tallis. Byrd was named organist and master of choristers of Lincoln Cathedral at the age of 20, where he wrote most of his English sacred music. In 1570 he was appointed a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, where he shared the post of organist with Tallis. Queen Elizabeth I, despite Byrd's intense commitment to Catholicism, was one of his benefactors, and granted him and Tallis a patent to print music in 1575. Their first publication was a collection of five- to eight-part, Latin motets, but they published little else. Around the same time, Byrd began composing for the virginal. His contribution to the solo keyboard repertoire comprises some 125 pieces, mostly stylized dances or exceptionally inventive sets of variations that inaugurated a golden age of English keyboard composition. Many of these pieces are found in one of two manuscripts: My Ladye Nevells Booke and the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. In 1573 he became a permanent member of the Chapel Royal. Byrd contributed heavily to the developing genre of the English anthem, including the newer "verse" style with organ accompaniment, composing his widely regarded Great Service in this format. However, during the 1580s and 1590s, Byrd's Catholicism was the driving force for his music. As the persecution of Catholics increased during this period, and occasionally touched on Byrd and his family, he wrote and openly published music for Catholic services. This was inaugurated in 1575 with the volume of Cantiones Sacrae, a joint collection with Tallis.

Upon Tallis' death in 1585, the publishing monopoly became entirely Byrd's, and he took it up again in earnest, printing the first English songbook, Psalmes, Sonets and Songs, in 1588. This and his other songbooks include Byrd's compositions in the leading secular genres of the day: the ayre or lute song, the madrigal, and the consort song for solo voice and viols. The consort song's finest hour came at his hands. He preferred texts of a high moral (frequently religious) or metaphysical tone. They are notable for the way the viol parts lead an existence independent of the vocal line. Although the first Cantiones was not especially successful, Byrd followed it up with two more collections in 1589 and 1591 that represent the most significant English contribution to the motet repertory. Byrd also composed three Latin Masses (for three, four, and five voices) during the period 1591-1593. These are unusual not only because they could no longer overtly have a liturgical function, but also because they include settings of the "Kyrie" -- something not previously done in English mass composition. He published two Gradualia, in 1605 and 1607, with music for all the major Catholic feast days. His last collection, Psalmes, Songs and Sonnets from 1611, consisted mostly of previously published works, but did include two of his viol consort works. Byrd was at his most distinguished in the "In Nomine" fantasias for consort, particularly the later pieces in five and six parts, works of exceptionally luxurious texture. The Parthenia, a collection of virginal pieces by John Bull, Orlando Gibbons, and Byrd, was also published in 1611. Byrd's last songs were published in a collection in 1614. He lived out his life comfortably at Stondon Massey, where he died in 1623. ~ TiVo Staff, Rovi